How rare is it to see the leaders of the federal Liberal, Conservative, New Democratic, and Green parties come together quickly to take a common stand on an issue?

But that is what happened just before Rosh Hashanah when two Liberal MPs – Anthony Housefather (Mount Royal) and Michael Levitt (York Centre) – were subjected to an anti-Semitic tweet from prominent anti-Israel activist Dimitri Lascaris. [Read more…]

The final production day for an issue of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin is always a busy day.

This final production day – Friday, September 7 – was the busiest I can remember. Normally, we go to press sometime between 1 and 3 pm, but today we held off so that we could cover the visit of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the Jewish Community Campus for a pre-Rosh Hashanah event at the Bess and Moe Greenberg Family Hillel Lodge organized by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa. Trudeau joined Lodge residents and Ottawa Jewish Community School Grade 3 students as they braided challahs to be donated to the Ottawa Kosher Food Bank and dipped apples in honey as they wished each other a sweet New Year. Trudeau’s 45-minute visit was at 2:30 pm. [Read more…]

It was a memory the Grade 3 students of the Ottawa Jewish Community School (OJCS) will carry with them for a lifetime.

On September 7, the kids walked over to the Bess and Moe Greenberg Family Hillel Lodge for a pre-Rosh Hashanah challah-braiding event with Lodge residents – and were joined in the activity by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The event – organized by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and its advocacy partner, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs – marked the first visit by a sitting prime minister to Ottawa’s Jewish Community Campus.[Read more…]

I was recently reminded of “What Was I Thinking,” a clever piece written in the 1990s by New York City singer-songwriter Christine Lavin. In a series of verses, Lavin documents some dumb choices made by various people that lead into a chorus that variously asks, “What was I-he-she thinking?”

The song came to mind when news surfaced about a fashion photo shoot that was held here in Ottawa at the National Holocaust Monument. [Read more…]

About 25 years ago, I returned to Concordia University in Montreal to do a master’s degree in political science. One of my courses, “Impediments to Democracy,” examined challenges to democratic systems posed by institutions like the Canadian Senate in which appointed senators have the power to delay or even stop legislation passed by the elected members of the House of Commons.

I have thought of that course lately while observing new impediments to democracy being thrown up by powerful politicians in advanced democracies – including the United States, Israel, and right here in Ontario. [Read more…]

Almost three years ago, after Justin Trudeau led the Liberal Party to victory in the federal election, I wrote a column suggesting Canada’s strong friendship with Israel would continue unabated under the new government (From the Editor, November 9, 2015). Stephen Harper, then the outgoing prime minister, had often been lauded for his strong support of Israel.

Indeed, Canada and Israel have maintained strong ties since Trudeau became prime minister. Just a few months after taking office, Trudeau’s Liberals joined with the Conservatives in passing a motion strongly denouncing the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. In the debate, Liberal cabinet ministers denounced the BDS movement as a modern-day form of anti-Semitism. And, on May 28, a modernized and more comprehensive Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement was announced by the two countries.[Read more…]

One-sided attacks on Israel in the media and at the United Nations (UN) during the recent Palestinian unrest on the border with Gaza are part of a pattern that has been ongoing since Israel’s victory in the Six Day War, according to Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor, an Israeli non-profit that reports on the activities of nongovernmental agencies in the Middle East.

Steinberg, a professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University, spoke on June 19 at Congregation Beit Tikvah at a lecture presented jointly by the congregation, Jewish National Fund of Ottawa, and B’nai Brith Canada. [Read more…]

Less than six months ago, Doug Ford, who served one term as a Toronto city councillor between 2010 and 2014, was planning to run for mayor of that city.

Now Ford is a few days away from being sworn in as premier of Ontario after leading the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party to a majority government in the June 7 provincial election. The New Democratic Party (NDP) became the official opposition, and the Green Party – which had never held a seat before – elected its first MPP. [Read more…]

Representatives of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa and its advocacy partner, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), has held roundtable meetings with Ottawa-area candidates running in the June 7 Ontario election representing the Liberal Party of Ontario, the New Democratic Party of Ontario (NDP), and the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC) – the three parties represented in the outgoing Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Each of the parties were asked to respond to the same five questions of concern to the Jewish community which were published in the CIJA 2018 Ontario Election Issues Guide and which were provided in advance to each of the parties. [Read more…]